It's a Top Secret... the AminoGel Trout attractant has
arrived from Europe

Date:

11/24/02

Tackle type:

Lure

Manufacturer:

Top Secret

Reviewer:

JIP

Total Score: 6.83

Introduction:
A new fish attractant makes its way to North America. It does not come
in a spray can or in a dough or paste, instead the Top Secret AminoGel
Trout fishing scent comes in a powder form that is designed to stick onto any
damp surface. But just as with many fish attractants out in the market, there
is still great
debate on whether they work or not. TackleTour takes this unique powder
attractant into the field for further understanding of it's performance.

Top Secret
AminoGel Trout Specifications

Attractant
Base

7
available

Type

Powder

Package

Jar

Weight

1.4 oz.

MSRP

$5.99

About Top Secret: The company is led by Top Secret's President Willi
Baumeister, and is headquartered in Germany, they have been in the
non-living fishing bait business for over 20 years. Highly popular
throughout Europe with approximately 800 different products, Top Secret is now
being introduced in North America with two unique attractants called AminoGel
and Diamonds.

Impressions: Have you ever took a sniff of any fish
attractant? Well, it's not recommended. They are made for fish, not
for Anglers. But our editors were curious to see how they smelled. While unpacking the AminoGel Trout scents the
scent was robust,
it's fish attractant all right. It smelled like... gosh, I can't even
explain it. Maybe something a fish would be attracted to, but not to a
human being.

Top
Secret's AminoGel Trout powder is packaged into a jar with a double lid to
prevent any accidental spills or escape of odor

Top
Secret produces 7 unique AminoGel Trout fishing scents that all come in powder
form. AminoGel is formulated from a combination of minerals, protein, amino
acids, and the main active ingredients of milt and roe. Nicely packed in jars, the types of Trout scents come in different
colors and contains glitter particles. The AminoGel Trout scents come in
these flavors: Liver, Salmon Egg, Herring, Cheese, Trout, Maggot, and Garnele
Luminos.

The
AminoGel Trout Salmon Egg scent is brightly colored. Also notice the
glitter that's mixed with the powder

Field
Tests: Most of the attractants you buy nowadays have been through many
hours of research and lab tests by the manufacturer. But even with the
study that has been conducted by the maker of the scent, there are still a lot
of controversy among Anglers of all level. Do fish attractants really
work? Does it entice more strikes when fishing with it? That's what
we will try to find out with Top Secret's AminoGel Trout used on lure hooks
while fishing for different types of trout.

Simply
dampen your lure hook, dip the hook into the powder, and take it out. This
is how it would look like after the first application of the AminoGel powder

How
to Use: Using the AminoGel Trout attractant is quite simple. There
are instructions on Top Secret's site and on the jar, but this is the best way
to apply the powder onto the hooks, bait, and even flies. Just dampen where
you want the AminoGel to stick to, then dip it into the jar. After the
initial application, stick the hook with the AminoGel back into the water before
casting. This will ensure that the powder on the outside becomes properly gelatinized. If you desire more on your bait or hook, repeat
the process.

Notice
the dry powder on the surface has not gelatinized yet [left]. After a dip
into the water it's ready to go [right]

Does
it Stick?: Maybe the question should be how well does the AminoGel Trout
stick onto your hook and bait. One of the best features about the Top
Secret powder scent is that it will bond to anything....I mean everything, after it
is properly dampened in
liquid.

After
many casts and catching this trout there was still plenty of AminoGel on the
hook for your next fish

When
applied correctly, the
AminoGel Trout attractant remains on the hook cast after cast, and even after
you have landed a trout or two. Over ten casts and two hookups, the AminoGel was still present on the hook. Some of it
did fall off, but there was still enough to fish again. If you desire
more, just simply reapply.

How well did the AminoGel Trout work?: As
Anglers we have those really good days, and we have those days where we catch
one fish or none at all. On good days you can catch trout on almost
anything you throw at it. One of those good days while fishing with
Panther Martin lures in a river for trout was very productive with and without
the Top Secret AminoGel Trout. But here's the difference that was
noted. As we all know, when a lure is scented, fish tend to hold onto the
lure longer before it figures out that it's not food and spit it out. (i.e.:
scented plastics used for Bass fishing)

While
retrieving the inline spinner many trout chased it taking small nips at the end
of the lure. When stopped and allowed to fall to the bottom they would
just look at it or turn around and dart away. There was an instance where
a trout did nibble at the lure when moved slightly, this was without the
Top Secret attractant. The same experiment was conducted in the same
situation, but this time the AminoGel Trout in the Maggot scent was applied to
the hook. This time a trout picked up the lure from the bottom of the
river and the fish was hooked. It could be due to the AminoGel, or it
could be that this trout was hungrier than the previous one which didn't take the
lure. During the same outing the amount of fish caught were about the same
with or without the Top Secret.

This
Brookie was caught on a Panther Martin spinner with Top Secret's AminoGel Trout
applied on the hook

The
AminoGel Trout can also be used to fish for Steelheads and works well with the
Glo-Bug Eggs. The Salmon Egg flavor is preferred here and apply the powder
the same was as explained above. The weight of the AminoGel actually helps
the egg stay near the bottom of the river where you want the fly to be.
Steelies will spit the fly out faster than you can get a good hook set. With the AminoGel Trout Salmon Egg flavor, this might help the success rate in
landing more Steelheads since the fact that the fish will hold onto a scented
bait longer.

The
Top Secret fish attractant doesn't only create a scent to lure fish in, but it
also targets the trout's sight by the glitter particles mixed in with the bright
color of the powder. The glitter does help get the fish's attention, just like the
flashes produced by gold and silver spinning blades.

Ratings:

AminoGel
Trout Ratings (?/10)

Construction/Quality

A
mixture of natural ingredients to form a scent to attract fish. The
addition of glitter and the brightly colored powder adds to the overall
quality

8

Performance

Performance
is still debatable. The same amount of fish were caught, but in some
specific instances the lure with the AminoGel Trout was able to entice the
fish to strike

5

Price

Priced
higher than other fish attractants, but it's something new from Europe

5

Features

The
addition of glitter particles targets the fish's sight as a visual
attractant

7.5

Design
(Ergonomics)

Brightly
colored and a strong natural scent is crucial in this form as a fish
attractant

7.5

Application

Versatile.
The AminoGel Trout powder can be used for all types of trout, including
Steelheads. The ability to be able to stick to anything after it's
dampened is a big plus

8

Total Score

6.83

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus
Minus

J
Sticks to anything

L
Performance not 100% conclusive

J
A fish attractant that targets
multiple senses

J
Simple to use

Conclusion: Some people are true believers of fishing scents
while others think they are just a joke. Many hours of research and tests in
the lab by manufacturers have brought them to produce natural scents that
actually attract fish, and are designed to spur
aggressiveness in fish causing more strikes; at least in the lab tanks. We at TackleTour always like to run thorough
tests and never rush to any conclusions unless we have hard evidence.
After many days of experiments using the Top Secret AminoGel Trout fish
attractants, the number of fish caught with and without the AminoGel was about
the same, but in some specific test the trout did take the lure with the fish
attractant applied. Further experiments will be required before we can
draw an absolute conclusion. What we do know is that the Top Secret won't
hurt your chances of catching fish, and it does add another visual element to
lure presentation that fish seem to be partial to. When you do have those tough
days on the water applying some Top Secret may improve the odds in landing
something depending on the conditions. We will keep you updated as we conduct
more long term tests on various species.